Going Rogue at #WBC15

Besides seeing friends, and learning about the host region, my favorite part of any Wine Bloggers Conference is the pop-up sessions or Rogue tastings that occur throughout the conference. Sometimes it's a few local wines that a participant brings to share. Other times it's marketing folks or owners of smaller wineries. I've already shared the An Intimate Tasting of Spanish Wine at #WBC15 with Finca Hispana & El Muro del Vino.

One of the savviest of these Rogue agents is Craig Camp who owns and operates Cornerstone Cellars Napa and Cornerstone Oregon. Craig is active on social media and blogs regularly about both these boutique wineries. During the ride to the conference from Seneca Lake I noticed that Craig was posting invitations to sample his wine before the Keuka Lake dinner. Both Cornerstone operations produce fabulous wines, so attendance was mandatory. The Napa wines were particularly stellar and are harvested from Oakville Station Vineyard (To Kalon), Kairos Vineyard in Oak Knoll, and Ink Grade Vineyard from Howell Mountain. The  2012 Napa Valley Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon always stands out being luscious, creamy, with an eternal finish. The 2012 Oakville Station Vineyard Merlot is quite the wine also.

Also through Twitter Constance Chamberlain (Wine & Co.) notified participants that she was pouring 25 years worth of Austrian Riesling from Wachau and Kamptal.  What a great opportunity to witness the age-ability of Riesling. This was readily apparent with both the Domane Wachau Terrassen Thal Smaragd Riesling 1990 and the Hogl Wachau Smaragd Terrassengarten Loiben Riesling 1993. Both still retained a lively aroma, a creamy mineral center, and plenty of acidity. The Alzinger Wachau Smaragd Loibenberg Riesling 2003 was simply elegant. Moving towards the present the Buchegger Moosburgerin Erste Lage Riesling 2011 from the Kamptal region was delicious with equal parts texture and acids. Tasting these wines in the Finger Lakes Riesling country offered a great contrast between the more fruit forward New York version versus the mineral and creamy side from Austria. Thanks Constance.

Maria Frangieh traveled the farthest to WBC15 in order to represent Lebanon's Chateau Ksara. Their wines were poured during a unique popup of Lebanese, Vermont, Virginia, and Maryland wines. Chateau Ksara is the oldest and largest winery in Lebanon, founded over 155 years ago by Jesuit priests in 1857. It is particularly impressive that the winery not only survived during the last three decades (which included civil war and Syrian & Israeli invasions), but expanded production.  Ksara’s vineyards are located in the central and western Bekaa Valley. This Mediterranean climate valley has an average altitude of 1,000 meters, enjoys hot dry summers with cool nights, and its own natural water table from melting snow from surrounding mountain ranges. At WBC15, Maria poured three red wines produced from Bordeaux varieties: the Château Ksara made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot grapes and oak aged for 18 months; the Cuvée IIIème Millénaire Ksara’s flagship red; and the 100%  Cabernet Sauvignon. These were big and bold wines with structure and plenty of tannins. Looking forward to exploring more that Chateau Ksara and Lebanon have to offer.

During that same tasting session, other wines are stood out. A 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon from an extinct Maryland winery Frederick Cellars (via Catoctin Creek Vineyards) showed amazingly well. Just ask WineOrl. So did the Sangiovese based 2007 Festa di Bacco from Afton Mountain Vineyards.

As for the Vermont wines, the Marquette from Lincoln Peak Winery and Shelburne Vineyard were very tasty - for any wine, not just for a Marguette wine. It was also the first time for many of the participants to sample the fabulous wines from La Garagista. Todd Traskos also brought along several home made wines and various samples of La Crescent, a much under-appreciated grape.

Thanks to Elizabeth, the TravelWineChick, several of us were able to sample more excellent red hybrids courtesy of Hudson-Chatham Winery. Of course, this means Baco Noir, the offspring of Folle blanche and an unknown variety of Vitis riparia. I have a soft spot for their Old Vines Mason Place Vineyards Pultney Farms, produced from 60 + year old vines and possessing several levels of dark juicy cherries with a touch of spice. The Field Stone Baco Noir was the most interesting of the trio; and very difficult to create an accurate descriptor. There's both dark fruit and pepper, some vege, some minerals - but ending softly.


The final Rogue tasting to mention actually occurred the first night of WBC15 and was hosted by the most vivacious group at the conference, the #GoWBCCanada team pimping the Town Hall brands. There were several solid wines in this tasting particularly the Summerhill Pyramid Estate Winery Cipes Brut. This non vintage sparkling wine revealed both nuts and citrus and finished both creamy and acidic. The Sandhill Wines 2013 Viognier was also nice, hitting the appropriate notes of peaches and apricots with a soft velvety texture. If only British Columbia wasn't so far away.

Looking forward to what WBC16 and Lodi have to offer. Cheers.

#SipWithKaren Unexpected #NapaValley Wines

This week Karen MacNeil, of the Wine Bible fame and Keynote Speaker at the upcoming 2015 Wine Bloggers Conference, hosted a twitter tasting (#SipWithKaren) featuring six "unexpected" Napa Valley wines. The event was sponsored by Napa Valley Vintners and included  Bottlenotes and The Daily Sip, in which MacNeil is the Editor-in-Chief. The tasting was heavy on whites with an Albariño, a Chenin Blanc, an unoaked Chardonnay, a Sauvignon Blanc; and for the reds and Cabernet Sauvignon, and 100% Petit Verdot.  I know what you are thinking, what so unexpected about a Napa Cab. I had the same question. Besides tasting the wines, the most informative part of the program was the tweets regarding Napa Valley by our sponsored host. I was generally aware of some of these facts; others, not so much.

• #NapaValley was designated California’s first American Viticultural Area or AVA in 1981.
• #NapaValley has 16 sub- or nested AVAs demonstrating the incredible diversity of our region
• #Napa has a Mediterranean climate, which affects only 2% of the earth’s surface – characterized by sunny, dry summers
• Within #Napa can be found half the world’s soil orders..
• Did you know that only 9% of #NapaValley is planted to grapevines?
• In #Napa we grow more than 3 dozen wine grape varieties – from #albariño to #zinfandel
• #Napa’s warm, dry growing season and morning fog allows grapes to fully ripen & maintain acidity
• Did you know #Napa’s To Kalon Vineyard was planted in 1868 by HW Crabb? To Kalon is Greek for “highest beauty".
• Fun fact about Napa: over 60% of wineries produce less than 5k cases per year.
• Did you know #NapaValley has about 1/6th the planted grapevine acreage of #Bordeaux?
• Once widely planted, today only about 25 hectares/60 acres of Chenin remain
• #SauvBlanc is the fourth most widely-produced wine grape variety in #Napa.
• #Chardonnay is #Napa’s 2nd most widely planted wine grape (behind #cabernet) - 6,900 acres/30,500 tons in 2014.
• Mighty #Cabernet is the king of grapes in #Napa w/ 20,600 acres planted (40% of the total 45k acres planted)
• #Napa’s quality #Cabernet commands the highest average price per ton of all CA winegrapes – $5,500/ton in 2014
• Lots of #petitverdot grown in #Napa (2,900 tons/2014) but very little bottled as a stand-alone variety

The six unexpected Napa Valley wines

2014 Artesa Napa Valley Albariño ($28, 14.2%) - fermented and aged 5 months in stainless steel (85%) and new french oak barrels (15%).  Starts with peach, then pineapple-lemon, then honeysuckle, with a long acidic finis. Karen MacNeil: This #albariño from @Artesa is easy to love. It’s a perfect #apéritif & great way to start the flight.

2013 Cornerstone Cellars  Napa Valley (Oak Knoll District ) Chenin Blanc ($25, 15.5%) - white fruit aroma; citrus, velvety texture, and mineral palate; finishes with plenty of acid. Karen MacNeil: Not as full bodied as #chardonnay, but not as light bodied as #pinot grigio. This #chenin is right in the middle & I love the crisp finish on this @CornerstoneNapa #cheninblanc #EasyToDrink.

2013 Robert Mondavi Winery  Napa Valley Fumé Blanc ($17, 15.5%): Napa Valley – 89% (61% Wappo Hill Vineyard, 20% To Kalon Vineyard); Mendocino County - 11%. Starts with lemon grass, but palate is deeper with minerals and finishes strong & long in acids. Karen MacNeil: This @RobertMondavi Fumé Blanc has beautiful focus and a lovely salinity. Long flavors of spice and bitter citrus.

2013 Alpha Omega Unoaked  Napa Valley Chardonnay ($33) - sees no ML or oak, but spent 6 months “sur lie,” which contributes to it’s creamy texture and and allows apple-tangerine-citrus notes to shine through. Karen MacNeil: I like the @AOwinery “Unoaked” #Chardonnay a lot. It’s a wine that’s effortless to drink all day long.

2012 Robert Mondavi  Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($29, 15.5%): 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Cabernet Franc, 4% Merlot, 1% Petit Verdot, 1% Malbec. Blackberries prevalent throughout; herbaceous and textured, some chocolate, long soft finish. Karen MacNeil: This @RobertMondavi #cabernet offers a tremendous value. Each glass would only cost you the equivalent of a Starbucks latté.

2010 St. Supéry Estate Vineyard & Winery Dollarhide Ranch Napa Valley Petit Verdot ($50, 14.5%):
97% Petit Verdot, 3% Cabernet Sauvignon; 100% French oak (50% new oak), 20 month.  Big dark fruit, spices, chocolate, lingering barnyard notes - envelop the mouth.  Karen MacNeil: This @StSupery #petitverdot is very focused and precise. There’s no static – it sings its song exactly.